kwerey: This post about the Hawkeye
This post about the Hawkeye Initiative really sums up a lot of half-thoughts I’d had about it and makes them coherent:
If the costumes/poses are ridiculous and impractical, they’re ridiculous and impractical regardless of what kind of body is placed in them. The idea that male bodies inhabiting those costumes/poses is somehow more ridiculous is pretty obviously more dependent on the transphobic idea of “men in dresses are funny! hur dur” than on the simple removal of our being “used to” women being placed in them.
Like, I do feel like I’m so immersed in images of women that sexualise and pose and glamourise our bodies that I won’t always be able to see them as unnatural or ridiculous. I can’t feel as incredulous about a lot of Eschergirls (WARNING: THERE ARE CREEPY AS FUCK PEDOPHILIAC IMAGES ON THEIR FRONT PAGE AT THE TIME OF POSTING) content as I want to, because I’m just so used to seeing that kind of shit. But I still think it’s a really useful tool for understanding what’s going on with the kind of gross objectification both tumblrs are criticising.
Looking through the Eschergirl’s archives for a long time gave me a much stronger sense for what objectification does. it is willing to contort women’s bodies beyond breaking point to show off what sees as sexual in them, and it will do that to the point of absurdity until it makes what was absurd so familiar it doesn’t even register. It puts a viewer’s momentary sexual gratification above the chance to show them something about the character it depicts - what they’re doing, their emotional state, how they dress at home or for work. They stare at the camera or close their eyes; they are on display, and the process of objectification makes sure they are posed without any kind of agency and logic. That’s one of the things I see most often in Eschergirls posts: what is she doing?
And, y’know what? I feel like that’s generally gonna be a really great starting point for a feminist analysis. Why’s she standing like that? Is anything about her telling a story, or not? Could the person who drew it tell you anything about this woman beyond what she looks like?
Reblogging because I think this post articulates well one of the major points of this blog. :)